I'm thinking I need to tweak my food intake a little - I crashed (energy levels seemed to drop to near zero) pretty hard this morning while playing capture the flag with my students - I just didn't have the wheels to keep up and although I was/am alert and feel like I have energy now my legs are still feeling pretty sluggish - could be the back to back days biking and playing capture the flag maybe or perhaps I am missing out on something diet wise? I'm not sure. I play squash this evening - hope my legs are recovered enough to play!

Lunch turned out not to be enough and with no other primal food to fall back on (dumb mistake) I caved and had a banana bran muffin - Lesson learned - bring extra food like almonds just in case!

Last edited by Primal Primate; 04-24-2013 at 12:47 PM.

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

Played a solid 45 minutes of hardcore squash yesterday and my legs are sure feeling it today! The first game was rough my legs were feeling pretty sluggish but after warming up a little I experienced a spike in energy and I was covering the court well and moving my feet again. Although I still lost most of the matches (fast for me is still slow and fat for most - this WILL change) I held my own, got one hell of a workout in and forced my partner to rally for every point he scored. Overall the workout was very rewarding even without the wins. I made it my goal to make a shot every time rather than score a point - just getting to the ball in time to make a play was what I was after.

I view yesterday with mixed thoughts - the energy is there, but I may have overdone it a little with back to back capture the flag games, 30 km on the bike and squash, especially when you factor in I went from almost no work outs to that in two days. My issue (and I can't believe I am typing this) is that I have a ton of energy all of a sudden and a need to move! Even in the classroom I am itching to move and my students have noticed it! I also think I need to be prepared for bonking like yesterday when I hit the wall and had no other primal food to eat so instead ate a muffin which I paid for later - my gut just can't digest that crap anymore. So after squash I went home and made up a couple packages of almonds and other nuts to keep at school close to my desk and in my bag so I can have some go to snacks just in case.

I finished Make Shi(f)t Happen yesterday as well and have taken some much needed knowledge from the pages of the book. From it I have restructured my workout routine, started to change my way of thinking about certain aspects of myself and my journey and feel much more confident this journey is not going to be completely derailed again when I slip up. I am now looking at the weight not as the main problem but the major symptom of the main problem which is/was my lifestyle, eating habits and activity habits. Change those and make the change sustainable and the weight issue will also be corrected. So simple but so complex!

Today is my rest day - this means geocaching tonight - lots of walking but not to crazy on the intensity. Tomorrow is my first attempt at yoga - my fiancee still can not believe I want to do yoga (truth be told I can't believe it either) but I need something to work on flexibility and this seems to be something I can do with little to no extra equipment and anywhere so it fits the bill for my new workout routine.

The new routine - which I may still need to tweak:
Day 1: Endurance (Bike, or walk - later I plan to add in swimming)
Day 2: Strength (Kettle bell workout,or body weight workouts)
Day 3: Speed (Squash, Hill sprints, Running stairs or windsprints)
Day 4: Rest (Geocaching)
Day 5: Flexibility (Yoga)
Day 6: Endurance (Biking, or walking)
Day 7: Strength (Kettle bell workout, or body weight workouts)

I want to continue to be active everyday and also be able to switch out workouts or add in new things as I discover them.

B: Green Monster Smoothie
L: 1 chicken breast cooked in coconut oil with home made guacamole, half a cucumber and 2 handfuls of carrots. A cup of fresh cut pineapple and water to drink.
S: We are planning on making a stir fry tonight minus the rice of course.

On standby 2 handfuls of almonds just in case!

Is the lunch too much? I packed more than usual just in case I was really hungry or hit the wall again today. Thoughts?

We (my fiancee and I) are still struggling with getting in the routine of planning out meals on Sundays so this week has been a bit of a crapshoot when it comes to knowing what I am eating each day - this is the next change I want to focus on in the new habits for this lifestyle.

Sorry for the rambling thoughts but that's how they came out today. Grok on fellow primal people!

Last edited by Primal Primate; 04-25-2013 at 08:16 AM.

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

"I am now looking at the weight not as the main problem but the major symptom of the main problem which is/was my lifestyle, eating habits and activity habits. Change those and make the change sustainable and the weight issue will also be corrected. So simple but so complex!"

A Journey of 10 000 miles begins with one small footstep outside your door...

It has been a while since I was last on here and no I have not gone and fallen off the wagon again. My journey as of late has taken me away from the forums and back outside into the wonderful weather, sunlight, and great outdoors - this is where I am truly the happiest! Spring has finally managed to take hold where I am and the temps are soaring into the high 20's (yes that is really warm here) I have marked this occasion with getting outside and going for nice long walks as many times as I can. We have explored the river valley, the hills and all points in between with the average walk coming in at just over 2 hours and a couple of them lasting the better part of the afternoon or evening. I am very much looking forward to summiting Ha Ling Peak on the long weekend and then revisiting Prairie Mountain before adding a few other summits to my list before the summer is done.

I invested in a new pair of Merrell minimalist shoes (slightly more acceptable at work than my VFF's) and I love them almost as much as my VFF's which are in desperate need of a good cleaning! I have managed to stay mostly primal - with a few slip ups and one or two calculated deviations from the path and I am starting to see the benefits in how I feel and with some of the weight coming off. I'm still not where I would like to be but it is a slow journey and each day I am closer to my goal.

I am still tinkering with my workouts and also with how I will measure my progress as I find I am really missing the scale - I find going by how my clothes fit is not reliable and I am second guessing myself. I think in my case weighting myself once in a while is a good thing. In fact I think I would like to have the numbers for all my measurements and might be collecting those monthly to help track progress or lack of progress.

Today breakfast was sautéed asparagus and spinach with scrambled eggs, gound pork and avocado - super filling and I could not finish my bowl!
Lunch is left over tuscan chicken breast with fresh veggies
Supper is suppose to be steak and shrimp with caesar salad but my steak and shrimp are still in the freezer at home so we might have to modify that one.

Grok on!

Last edited by Primal Primate; 05-06-2013 at 07:44 AM.

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

Feeling great and loving all the sun and warm temps that have come our way! Last night my better half and I headed out to do some shopping - clothes were on the list and I love the fact that I once again fit in normal sized clothes - well maybe not normal sized but clothes that don't come from the big and tall stores! Damn that is a good feeling for me - not so good for my wallet! In addition we bought a party game called KanJam so now we need to have a party to play it. It involves cans and flying discs - the object being to get the disc to hit or go into the can. We opted to have supper out at one of the restaurants in the mall (not the food court) and I picked salad with grilled chicken breast over burger and fries - another trap avoided and that also felt good so celebrations aplenty for me today!

With the weather turning nice I find I am spending as much time as possible outside and I can never complain about that. This Saturday I am joining some buddies for a good long hike out west in the mountains - I'm preparing for snow and wet conditions but hoping for warm and dry - either way bring it on!

Breakfast this morning was fruit and berries with coconut milk "whip cream" It was both fast and light and much more filling that I expected. I am still not a huge fruit fan - often find it too sweet but the berries and peaches were nice this morning. I will defiantly do it again sometime but I see this as a once in a while breakfast not a stead fast go to choice. I'm lacking a little on sleep and feeling it but that is usual on Tuesdays with a start time of 4:30am and my travel mug of coffee and cream is doing the trick.

I had a moment yesterday - not like a holy crap where is my car moment but a moment where I walked past a fit dude in the mall (this guy was already ready for summer and beach wear) and instead of my usual mantra - "I wish that was me." I found myself thinking "That will be me - not this summer but soon." This thought brought a smile to my face which I then had to quickly get rid of because the dude looked at me funny. Maybe he thought I was smiling at him?

I made the decision to measure myself this Saturday before I leave for the hike and then plan to move measurement day to the first Saturday of each month - this will be the only time I break out the tape and scale. So hopefully I'll have measurements to post soon - and I'll try to still be positive after .

Grok on those who choose to dwell in the caves!

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

It is squash day today and I look forward to this day all week long. The re-introduction of sports into my lifestyle is a welcome one but also one that I need to remember comes slowly - I'm not as young nor anywhere near as fit as I once was. I'd like to work other sports into the fold again too - ultimate and floor hockey being two of them but I think the transition back to sports is going to take a bit of time. As I have been practically living in my minimalist shoes and my VFF's I have noticed my one ankle is a little tender in the morning when I get up. It seems to work itself out by the time I have had my shower but I don't want to push it too much - lets face it 294 lbs is a lot of stress to put on ones feet especially when you are running and making sudden direction changes. I just got this train back up to speed I don't want to sideline that success with injury.

I came across a new kettle bell workout routine that uses a combination of kettle bell and body weight movements to workout. The plan is to go all out for 5 mins at a time switching routines every 15 to 30 seconds and then repeat the full workout for 5 sessions of 5 minutes - 25 mins total with approx. 1 minute rest in-between. I thought it would be a pretty simple workout but it kicked my ass! I love the challenge of it and think I will stick with it for a while. I had to back the weight down to a measly 20 lbs kettle bell to be able to do it all but I hope I can work my way up to heavier weights with the end goal (for now) being to be able to do a chin up.

Eating plan is working and except for the occasional hiccup I am managing to stay in the 80/20 range. I am hoping this along with the workouts and hikes will result in some more weight coming off. I'd like to get back into the 260-250 lbs range where I was before I left primal the first time (when last I was at this weight I was able to wear my All Blacks jersey and look good in it) and then bring the weight down to 200 lbs or even 180 lbs if possible. I have my work cut out for me but I think I am focused enough to do it this time and I find I am craving movement in any form. Tomorrow is a rest day and then it's Friday which means I get to try yoga again - who knew I was this inflexible... Still its all good and I'm getting there.

Breakfast this morning was 2 eggs scrambled topped with a little pepper and all spice, a cube of crumbled feta cheese, 2 pieces of bacon shredded and fresh from the garden chives. With the scrambled eggs I enjoyed a fresh organic tomato from weekend run to the farmers market and a nice glass of water - which I have noticed tastes better than anything lately.

Lunch is left over streak and veggies with a handful of almonds.

Grok on!

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

Feeling your disappointment over the squash, that is such a fun game. I was so disappointed when I went to Power class this week to find the class already full and I had to make do with a solo routine in the gym instead. Better luck next week

Feeling your disappointment over the squash, that is such a fun game. I was so disappointed when I went to Power class this week to find the class already full and I had to make do with a solo routine in the gym instead. Better luck next week

Thanks Annieh!

As it turns out the weather was beautiful so I went for a nice long walk up the hill ( a huge park in the north of the city) then decided to do some hill sprints on one of the smaller hills at the top. I must admit they took a lot out of me but its a good kind of tired to be.

Grok on!

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

This weekend was beautiful both in terms of weather and activities. Saturday I spent the day in the sun and nature hiking 13.7km. We started the day hiking up a ridge - approx. 6km with about 300m elevation gain - bushwhacking the whole way. Once on top of the ridge we discovered that the parks department is starting work on a new trail system so we followed it - this was a nice change from crawling over and around all the blow down and dead fall we encountered on the way up! Eventually we reached the summit of the ridge and were treated to breath taking vistas in very direction. From there we cut across another well defined trail system and after more climbing and descending made our way over to Fullerton Loop. We returned to the vehicle on this loop tired, sweaty and grinning ear to ear! Sunday I expected to be sore but woke full of energy and with fresh legs so we headed out to Canmore and took a short 3km walk to Grassi Lakes and back to the parking lot. This is one of my favorite short hikes. Its approx. 1.5km out and another 1.5 back - all uphill on the way to the lakes and all downhill on the way back. Once up at the lakes i took the opportunity to do a little bouldering and climbed on all the rocks I could get up on. It was a fantastic weekend of play, exploration and fun.
Grok on!

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous